September 18, 2024 |
Photo – Wyoming Public Defender logo – Courtesy State of Wyoming
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, on Monday, appointed Brandon Booth as State Public Defender.
Booth replaces Ryan Roden, who served in an interim capacity following the retirement of State Public Defender Diane Lozano.
On the official website for the office, Lozano describes the job as “a state of mind. It is a commitment to the ideal that all individuals deserve to be treated with dignity and due process; it is an opportunity to create change, within the system, within our clients and within ourselves.”
Booth has worked in the Office of the Wyoming State Public Defender since 2014, first as Senior Assistant Public Defender and since 2019 as Chief Trial Counsel. He also served concurrently as Laramie County Field Office Supervisor. Prior to joining the Office of the Public Defender, he worked as a private practice attorney in Greeley, Colorado and in the Greeley office of the Colorado State Public Defender. Booth received his Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of Wyoming.
Everyone has a right to legal representation. Being booked into a jail can be intimidating, confusing and even life changing.
Court defendants who may lack financial services to hire legal counsel to defend themselves at trial rely on the public defenders office to represent them in court. It’s called “indigent defense.”
The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that having access to legal counsel is a fundamental part of having a fair trial. If someone is facing a trial where the outcome could be incarceration, the High Court in Gideon vs Wainright that the Sixth Amendment requires that anyone facing incarceration has the right to a court-appointed attorney at the state’s expense.
Governor Gordon said, “Booth’s experience in the Office of the Public Defender makes him well-prepared to serve the people of Wyoming in this important role.”
